Starting the match proceedings with either the bat or the ball is a tedious task. The strike bowlers are handed the ball in the first over to show their prowess whereas the opening batsman get a chance to face them. Rarely does it happen that a players who opens the batting for a team, also ends up bowling the first over of the innings. In this article lets discuss five such instances where a cricketer opened the batting and bowling for a team in the same match.
The first name in the list is of Manoj Prabhakar. He holds the record of opening both batting and bowling for India the most number of times. The first time he did so was against arch rivals Pakistan in Jamshedpur in 1987. Although the result didn’t go in India’s favour, Prabhakar scored a century while opening the batting and was named the Player of the Match. He did the aforementioned task a whopping 45 number of times in One Day Internationals and was a major asset to the Indian side.
The second name in the list is of Neil Johnson. A naturally-gifted Zimbabwean all-rounder rose to fame during the 1999 Cricket World Cup when he won three Man-of-the-Match awards owing to his stunning form. Johnson on several occasions had opened the bowling and batting in many ODIs and did a brilliant job of it as well. In a game against Australia in the 1999 World Cup at the Lord’s, he scored a brilliant 132 whilst also picking up 2 wickets while opening the balling to send shivers down Australia’s’ spine.
The third name in the list is of Mohammed Hafeez. The talented Pakistan veteran Hafeez made his debut in 2003, it was only eight years later in the World Cup quarter-final against West Indies when Pakistan decided to open the batting as well as bowling with Hafeez. Hafeez manager to take the wicket of the other opening batsman Dwayne Smith and had stunning bowling figures of 2/16 from his 10 overs. He scored an unbeaten half-century later and was named the Player of the Match.
The fourth name in the list is of Sri Lanka veteran Tilakaratne Dilshan. Dilshan, a destructive opener was always known to provide rollicking starts to his side and with the ball, he used to bowl some crucial overs for his side. One of his memorable performances came in the 2nd final of the Commonwealth Bank Series 2012 when he finished with figures of 1 for 40 in his 10 overs while opening the balling and opened the batting to score a magnificent 106 to win the game and level the Best of 3 final.
The fifth and last name in the list is of Virender Sehwag. While playing in a One Day International against Australia in 2005, Sehwag was handed the ball in the first over by captain Rahul Dravid due to the presence of two left-handers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden on the pitch. However, this ploy by the Indian side didn’t work as the off-spinner failed to pick any wicket and bagged a duck while opening the batting. Although the plan of opening both batting and bowling with Sehwag didn’t work, it was worth a go.
